Entry to the cab is via remote plip-locking and once inside, the seating area is pleasant and functional, with hard seats that feature plenty of side and back support.

Being a car at heart, there isn’t a great deal of space for the average van driver’s detritus, but the centre console has two can/cup holders and there is a nice big double-compartment lidded storage bin.

And - lordy, lordy - there are two sunglasses holders in the roof as well.

That’s a new one on me in the world of vans.

In-van entertainment is provided by a very good quality JVC radio/CD player, which will pump out a massive amount of noise if required.

The bad news is that it features masses of tiny little buttons on the front and is quite awkward to attend to safely while on the move.

The rear loadspace is nice and square and as there is no lip at the rear end, loads can be easily slid in and out.

Thanks to the addition of the two rear doors along with the rear tailgate, there should be no access problems.

There are also four load-lashing eyes and a handy hidden compartment which is revealed by lifting up a flap in the floor.

Firing up the powerplant reveals a smooth unit with none of the old diesel death rattle and there is certainly no lack of pulling power either loaded or empty.

The gearchange is extremely slick for a 4x4 vehicle, although the power steering is so light that there is very little ‘feel’ for what’s going on between steering wheel and road.

Four-wheel drive high and low gear ratios are selected by turning a switch on the dashboard.

Verdict

We are extremely impressed with this vehicle.

It obviously won’t suit all tastes but for fleets which need a vehicle that isn’t afraid to get its feet dirty and won’t cost the earth, the Sorento makes a convincing case for itself.
And it fights a good corner on costs too.

The rival Jeep Cherokee Pioneer is more than £3,000 more expensive, but is predicted to retain just 36% of its value after three years/60,000 miles according to used value expert CAP, as opposed to 38% for the Sorento.

The ageing Nissan Terrano van, meanwhile, is predicted to retain 35%.